Umsobomvu Youth Fund Annual Report 2006 - Nyda

chiefexecutiveofficer’sreport“ Our three key strategic objectives that guide ourwork are effectiveness (doing things that work andwork well), integration (ensuring partnerships fordevelopment and co-operation amongst our differentprogrammes) and scale (ensuring access to a greaternumber of beneficiaries).”We are delighted that UYF is doing well on all three ofthese strategic objectives.Malose KekaneChief Executive OfficerUmsobomvu Youth Fund 2006 Annual Report14This financial year-end marks the 5thanniversary of Umsobomvu Youth Fund(UYF). During the last five years, the UYFestablished a solid foundation which canbe taken to scale. The highlights froman institutional perspective in relation tobuilding an effective organisation are thefollowing:• A clear strategic framework based onUYF’s mandate and other Governmentpriorities and strategies has beendeveloped and reviewed annually;• Programme models have been designedwhich are scalable based on clearprogramme inputs and outputs;• Policies and procedures as well asaccompanying processes and systemshave been developed. In this regard,UYF is in the final stages of undergoingaccreditation for ISO 9000:2000 whichwill confirm that these platforms areworld class;• Human resource capacity has beenestablished consisting of committedmen and women who share the visionof the UYF;• A network of Youth Advisory Centres(YACs) and one managed by UYF havebeen established which ensure accessto youth nationwide; and• A strong brand has been created whichis recognised by many South Africans.We therefore believe that the Government of South Africa has through its investment inyouth not only made significant progress towards achieving its constitutional mandateof a better life for all, but has in the process also built a strong institutional base whichshould be used to increase the scale of youth development interventions.The UYF approach to Youth DevelopmentUYF has adopted a customer-focused and opportunity-driven approach to developingyoung people. What this means is that UYF provides products and services thatare informed by the need to enable young people to access sustainable livelihoodopportunities.Target market and stages of developmentThere are broadly three cohorts of young people based on their stages ofdevelopment:• Category 1 – Unskilled and unemployed. These are largely young people who mayhave Matric or have dropped out of school but possess no vocational skills;• Category 2 – Skilled and unemployed; employed but unskilled; and those in skillsprogrammes; and• Category 3 – Skilled and employed and those in self-employment.The number of youth in each category decreases from category 1 to 3 based on theLabour Force Survey and the UYF Status of the Youth Report. More than 50% of theeconomically active youth population is unemployed and most of these are unskilled.The interventionsTo move young people from category 1 (unskilled and unemployed) to a stage where theycan access sustainable livelihoods, UYF has developed certain forms of interventionswhich inform its products and services.• Identification of opportunities – The UYF utilises the Youth in Local EconomicDevelopment (Youth in LED) programme or the Business Opportunity SupportService (BOSS) to identify specific opportunities in the public and private sector.These can be employment or procurement opportunities for youth-owned Small,